Battle of Valhalla (2401)
The Battle of Valhalla (9th November 2401) was the final major fleet engagement of the 3rd War of Barnard's Star and was also the largest space-based clash to date. Over a hundred ships of the US and United Commonwealth fleets met and fought against eighty seven Imperial ships. By the end of the day the Imperial fleet had been all but destroyed and for the rest of the war could only mount delaying actions against the Allies Build Up After nearly four years of sparring and probing engagements the US and Commonwealth had built up enough strength to directly engage the Imperial fleet. Valhalla was one of the few major engagemnts of the war, most engagements were small in scale; the Allied fleet didn't have the capability to seek an engagement to clear the way for an invasion of Imperial colonies, while the Imperial military was incapable of creating an invasion fleet after the devasting losses to their transport ships on the first day of the war. The war had come to an impass, but by the end of 2041 Imperial losses had been replaced and the Imperial command wanted a strike that would knock the Americans out of the war, Vahlla would be that strike with an invasion fleet to follow. In order to drive the Empire to the negotiation table the Allies now sought a decisive fleet engagment. Phase I, Operation Madusa , which would come to be known as the Valhalla Fighter Dupe. After allied intellegence had broken the Imperial code, allied command sought to prevent the main fleet from being reinforced rapidly and to draw any additional Imperial forces away from Valhalla. The allies knew that a strike would be made against Valhalla, but not when. A break came when an Imperial aviation commander was captured after having his fighter heavily damaged and thought dead by his government. The date was set for 9 November. In order to isolate the battlefied area a strike force of allied carriers attacked Xun drawing out the fighters stationed there to prevent them from reinforcing the Imperial fleet at Valhalla. The carrier strike would take place on 7 November, then the carriers would rapidly redeploy to Valhalla to join the main fleet preparing to engage the Imperial strike force. Allied intellegence leaked information that indicated a major carrier strike would occur that would draw the carriers away from Valhalla. At Xun the allied fighters decimated Imperial fighter forces, creating multiple aces in a day and making Lt. Jake Monroe a national hero. The Battle On the morning of 9 November USAF, USMC and USSN strike craft launched from airfields throughout Valhalla to engage the Imperial fleet that had appeared just off the jump shelf. The initial wave of American fighters were mauled by the Imperial CAP and alert fighters, The few strikers that made it through the Imperial fighters were then forced to contend with the Imperial escort ships. Of the few strikers that survived the Imperial fighter screen and escorts and launched none hit their mark, with their missile and torpedoe guidance systems being jammed or the munitions themselves defeated by point defense systems. VMA-242 was completly wiped out, with only one crew being rescued after the battle. As US forces limped back to Valhalla, the Imperials prepared for their initial strike against Valhalla. A few US fighters limped into the sky to face down the incoming Imperial strike, but most were swatted from the sky by Xian-216 fighters, while J-208 bombers ripped into US bases. Of the 72 J-208's launched American resistance knocked 14 out of the sky and damaged many more. An Imperial picket destroyer was destroyed during the strike as a patrol of two Dallas class destyroyers stumbled upon the fleet; a quick strike by the USS Houston and USS Clevland allowed the destroyers to escape before Imperial reinforcements could be summoned. Thanks to telemtry data provided by the Houston and Clevland, a strike could be launched from planet based anti-shipping missile systems. This same data was passed to the Allied fleet that was now moving into position to launch their own strike against the Imperial fleet. Admiral Anderson had been holding his initial strike, waiting for the arrival of his carrier force, and was now having his pilots briefed for a strike against the Imperial fleet. Anderson was hoping that his pilots would strike the Imperial fleet after they had launched their next strike on Valhalla. As the US strike neared its target, Imperial CAP fighters were overwhelmed by the American escort fighters. FAT-21 Crusaders were able to launch their ordance overwhelming the point defense weapons while jamming of the Imperial ships provided hits on multiple ships including the Jade Dragon, a Tian Shang battlship, flagship of the Imperial fleet. As the US strike bore in on the Imperial fleet confusion reigned amongst the Imperial strike with some fighters turning back to defend the fleet while the strikers continued with minimal escort. At Valhalla the last of the American fighters launched to intercept the Imperial strike. This time the American fighters managed to repel the Imperial attack with minimum damage to to infrastructure. Now that the Allied naval force had reveled itself, the Imperial commander, Admiral Chen, was focused on destroying the Allied task force. As both sides rearmed their strike craft, Admiral Chen moved his force at flank speed toward the Allied force. Admiral Anderson chose to launch his strike craft before the Imperial fleet moved into range. The Imperial fighter screen bogged down the American strike, but a few strike aircraft broke through launching missiles against the Imperial picket ships. Chen chose to hold back his dwindling fighter force to make a final strike when the two fleets engaged ship to ship. Anderson immediately rearmed and turned his strike aircraft for another strike. As the two fleets met, Anderson pushed his destroyers out ahead of the fleet to make torpedo runs on the enemy fleet, while holding back his cruisers and battlehsips for long range gunnery engagements. As the American destroyers disengaged to return to the fleet, the battlehsips and cruisers opened up and superieror Allied training began to take its toll on the Imperial fleet. The Allied carriers began to launch a final strike against the Imperial fleet. As the main Allied fleet maintained their fire on the Imperial fleet, the strike craft looped around to strike the Imperial fleet on the flank. As the bombers moved into launch their missiles the Imperial fleet began to break and retreat. Anderson allowed his destroyer force to give chase while holding back his main fleet and began rescue operations. Anderson deployed the cruiser Chicago, two destroyers, USS Cassidy and USS Rueben and a squadron of torpedo patrol boats to the edge of the jump shelf should the Imperial invasion force enter the system. Aftermath The Battle of Valhalla broke the Imperial forces, forcing the CEDG to the negotiating table and virtually ending the 3rd War of Benard's Star. Allied forces had been hit hard losing multiple US and Commonwealth escorts, the battleships North Dakota and West Virginia. All 4 US carriers were heavly damaged, the battlships Texas, Montana and Washington would all require time in dry dock. The HMS Illustrious would spend months in repair yards, while mutiple escorts would require repairs. Imperial forces were hit even harder losing 4 of the six carriers brought to the battle, with no chance of salvage and retreating with just 3 battleships all heavily damaged. Category:Battles Category:3rd War of Barnard's Star